Cave St Verny make some lovely wines, from the Côtes d’Auvergne, a really interesting but obscure wine region pretty much in the middle of France, which is counted as part of the Loire. It’s based around a volcano, Puy de Dôme, at the edge of the Massif Central, which makes for some interesting terroirs. The [...]

Dave Bowley, the Vinteloper, came round to dinner. And he bought this: one of the best Australian Pinot Noirs that I have tasted. It’s from a single Vineyard in Lenswood, Adelaide Hills that was planted in 1986. The slope faces east; the clone is D5V12; the elevation is 550m.

These are three remarkable wines. Craggy Range are very excited about the 2013 vintage in these two regions, and on tasting these wines it’s easy to show why. ‘In 2013 we felt it was the first time we had really seen the true potential of our great estates in Hawke’s Bay and Martinborough,’ says winemaker [...]

Lunch at St John today. A special time with Francis Percival, Dan Keeling and Jeremy Seysses. The company, the wines, the food: all were on sparkling form. I haven’t been to St John in a while. I will be back soon, for sure. Highlights included a wonderful crispy pig skin salad, and decadently rich devilled [...]

Hannes Storm was, for a decade, winemaker at Hamilton Russell, until he left in 2014 to do his own thing. Well, this is the first chance I’ve had to try one of his own wines, and it’s a very assured Pinot from Hemel-en-Aarde. He’s making two Pinot Noirs, and this one is from a 2 [...]

Located in the Auvergne, Saint-Pourçain actually has more in common with the Maconnais than the Loire, with Chardonnay, Gamay and Pinot Noir the main varieties. (You can read more about this small but interesting appellation on Richard Kelley’s site.) This is an inexpensive but delicious wine that’s a 60/40 blend of Gamay and Pinot. Worth [...]

I visited Norman Hardie in Prince Edward County in 2013, and was blown away by the wines he’s making. So it was great to be able to taste his latest releases at The Wine Society’s HQ in Stevenage yesterday, courtesy of buyer Sarah Knowles. I also tried a couple of the 2012s that they are [...]

I’m at Prowein. It’s a huge trade fair, with 50 000 attendees from around the world. The scale of this fair is daunting. It is the first time I’ve attended:I’d been scared off by its size in the past. Once you get past the frustrations of having 50 000 people swelling [...]

Seeing that I am off to Germany for a few days I thought I’d write up two German Pinot Noirs that I opened last night. I really like German Pinot Noir, mainly because I love Pinot Noir generally, and Germany makes some very good ones. But they vary a lot. In my experience, most are [...]

This is a really good Central Otago Pinot Noir for a very good price. It’s an own-label wine form Marks & Spencer made by Duncan Forsyth at Mount Edward. It will need a bit of time for the oak to integrate fully, but at £16 a bottle this is punching above its weight.